Warwick-Monash: Modelling and Simulation; HPC and Data

These pages are intended to be an open forum for collecting together activities involving Warwick and Monash in the general areas of:

Modelling & Simulation

HPC, Data Analysis and Data Management

Scientific Computing and Computational Science

If you would like to contribute to these pages and do not already have edit access, please contact Prof P.M. Rodger (p.m.rodger@warwick.ac.uk)

A Warwick-Monash global engagement theme

Global Engagement
Data Management and High Performance Computing has been identified as a key area for engagement between Warwick and Monash, with a number of activities funded under an EPSRC grant

The aim of this investment was to identify a small number of activities where the complementary expertise will enable much greater exploitation of the different research challenges and opportunities arising at Warwick and Monash. We aim to use this grant both to explore where there is potential overlap, and then to kick-start activity in a few areas that look particularly promising.

The plan as laid out in the original proposal is given below; it provided for: exploratory visits to Monash by Warwick academics, and some video link discussions to assess the best optionssecondment opportunities for PGRAs and/or PDRAs to spend time working at MonashA final workshop/conference which will bring appropriate Monash staff to Warwick.

Theme F: Data Management and HPC

Warwick Lead Prof Rodger; Monash Lead Prof Abramson

Background

High performance computing and, more generally, e-Science are major research activities that underpin most of the EPSRC research remit. The University of Warwick has an international reputation for developing methods and applications in scientific computing, particularly at the high performance computing (HPC) end, while the University of Monash is at the forefront of e-Science, with an outstanding track record for developing the tools for e-Science (notably their Nimrod toolkit) and using them in innovative applications. The two Universities have already begun to explore the rich opportunities for synergy their complementary expertise offers in graduate training, with the very successful concurrent delivery last September of a short course on algorithms for HPC through live, bi-directional network delivery of lectures accompanied by locally run workshops using the same exercises. These initial contacts have shown that there would be immense benefit to both Universities in developing much greater collaboration over their HPC/e-Science research, particularly in the areas of molecular and biomolecular simulation, turbulent flows, stochastic models computational PDEs, and algorithm design and optimisation. Key Academics at Warwick - Quigley, Allen, Roemer,(Physics) Troisi, Notman, Chung (Chemistry), Stinner, Dedner, Stuart, Barkley
(Mathematics) Kerr, Khovanov (Engineering).

Objectives

To identify 3–4 major areas of synergy—particularly where the complementary expertise will enable much greater exploitation of the different research challenges prevailing in these two geographically distinct environments—and develop strategies for funding and implementing long-term research collaborations.

Programme

Reciprocal scoping visits by Rodger and Abramson to investigate the respective research portfolios and identify the most promising areas for immediate development. (First three months).
A series of video links to identify and formulate specific collaborative opportunities 3–4 of these will be selected to develop through further engagement activities.
A one-week visit by up to 10 academics from Warwick to Monash, covering the 3–4 selected projects and with the dual purpose of (1) creating the close working relationships between academics needed to foster long-term collaboration and (2) developing specific plans for secondments and preliminary research that will formulate long term research and funding strategies in these projects.
4–5 secondments of postdoctoral and postgraduate research staff for up to two months to ensure effective knowledge transfer and undertake the preliminary research.
One week workshop in Warwick (up to 10 visitors from Monash) to review the collaborations, revise the strategy, and to write draft research proposals in each of the selected themes.